New Mexico State releases 2019 football schedule

LAS CRUCES – The New Mexico State football team finalized its 2019 schedule, heading into its second season as an independent. The Aggies’ slate for next season features five games inside of Aggie Memorial Stadium and seven on the road with three coming against Power 5 opponents.

Looking ahead to the 2019 season, head coach Doug Martin said, “This will be the toughest schedule any group of five team plays by far and we look forward to it. Three Power 5 schools in Alabama, Washington State, and Ole Miss, and then some of the best group of five teams in the nation are on this schedule. We return a really good team and look forward to proving that we belong on this level.”

NM State opens the season during week one in Pullman, Wash. to take on PAC-12 challenger Washington State on Aug. 31. This is set to be the first-ever matchup between the Aggies and Cougars in program history.

The Aggies then remain on the road for a week two matchup when the team travels to take on winners of five out of the last nine national championships in Southeastern Conference powerhouse Alabama on Sept. 7 in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The game is set to be another program-first for the Aggies, in the team’s premiere clash with the Crimson Tide.

Following a challenging pair of contests to start the season on the road, NM State then returns to the City of Crosses for its home-opener against San Diego State on Sept. 14. This is the first game between the teams since 2013 and the Aggies look for their first win over the Aztecs since taking them down at home, 26-6, back on Nov. 12, 1955.

Rivalry week then opens for the Aggies on the road as the team travels for the Battle of I-25 up in Albuquerque to face off with in-state rival New Mexico on Sept. 21. NM State has won two of the last three contests against UNM as the teams get set for the 110th all-time meeting.

ThAggies then close out the Mountain West Conference tour with a home game against 2018 MWC Champion Fresno State on Sept. 28, inside of Aggie Memorial Stadium. The most recent game between the Aggies and Bulldogs was back in 2011 when the teams were each a member of the Western Athletic Conference and NM State walked away with a 48-45 victory.

Following that, for the second year in a row, NM State gets set to square off against fellow independent Liberty twice in one season with the first matchup coming between the teams in Las Cruces on Oct. 5. The teams split the contests in 2017 with the Aggies taking a 49-41 win at home on Oct. 6 and the Flames claiming a 28-21 victory in Lynchburg, Va. for the Aggies final game on Nov. 24.

NM State once again hits the road the next week for another first-time matchup, this time up in Mount Pleasant, Mich. against Central Michigan on Oct. 12. The 2015 SEC and 2014 MWC Coach of the Year, Jim McElwain, was named the 29th head coach of the Chippewas on Dec. 2.

After a bye week, the Aggies return to action with a road clash against former Sun Belt foe Georgia Southern on Oct. 26 in Statesboro, Ga. NM State earned its first-ever win over the Eagles with an exciting 35-27 road win back on Oct. 14, 2017.

NM State then gets set to return to SEC country for a battle with the Rebels of Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss. on Nov. 9. The sole matchup between the two teams came back in 2015 when the Aggies fell to the No. 13 ranked Rebels, 52-3.

The team follows that up with a home contest against FCS challenger Incarnate Word on Nov. 16. The Cardinals make their first-ever trip to Aggie Memorial Stadium and second to the state of New Mexico in two years after falling in the season-opener to UNM, 62-30, on Sept. 1, 2018.

For the final home game of the 2019 season, NM State gets set for another rivalry matchup, this time against Battle of I-10 rival UTEP on Nov. 23. The Aggies have won two-straight over the Miners after ending an eight-game losing skid with a 41-14 victory in Aggie Memorial on Sept. 23, 2017.

To close out the 2019 regular-season, the Crimson & White make a trip to Lynchburg, Va. to face off for the second time against Liberty on Nov. 30.

“The 2019 football schedule is one of the more challenging in school history,” said Director of Athletics Mario Moccia. “Playing three Power 5 schools is not something we want to do in future years but when you are independent you sometimes have to do things you normally wouldn’t, to insure the minimum home game requirements. The guaranteed money generated from these games will go to the mandated deficit payback plan the Department of Athletics has been on for almost a decade where we have balanced our budget eight out of the last nine years. Our rivalry games take on a bit of a different twist with UTEP being played in November, then for the second consecutive

2019 NM State football schedule

August 31 at Washington State

Sept. 7 at Alabama

Sept. 14 vs. San Diego State

Sept. 21 at New Mexico

Sept. 28 vs. Fresno State

Oct. 5 vs. Liberty

Oct. 12 at Central Michigan

Oct. 26 at Georgia Southern

Nov. 9 at Mississippi

Nov. 16 vs. Incarnate Word

Nov. 23 vs. UTEP

Nov. 30 at Liberty

Games in bold at Aggie Memorial Stadium

NM State women close out long road trip

LAS CRUCES – The New Mexico State women’s basketball team wraps up its 2018-ending road trip in the Golden State, taking on former Big West Rivals UC Riverside on Friday at 8 p.m., and UC Santa Barbara on Sunday at 3 p.m.

The Highlanders enter Friday’s matchup with a 4-8 overall record and dropped a 56-53 decision at Utah Valley in their last game on Dec. 22. As a team, UCR averages 57.8 points per game on 38.1 percent shooting from the field.

UC Santa Barbara holds a 3-9 record but snapped a three game losing streak with a 63-58 win at San Diego State on Dec. 21. Last season, UCSB beat the Aggies 77-47 in the Pan American Center while knocking down 14 three pointers.